Welcome to Birmingham, the largest city in all of Alabama. Unfortunately, we Alabamians are known for racial hatred and violence. Birmingham is the most discriminatory and segregated city down here in the South. Come take a look, I'll show y'all 'bout one of the biggest acts of violence during the Civil Rights Movement that happened right here in Birmingham when I was a wee boy - The Birmingham Children's Crusade of 1963.
'Twas a warm day, May 2nd, 1963. We kids had been recruited to protest in the streets. It ain't that the old folks didn't want to protest, they just couldn't lose their jobs, and we children didn't have much to loose. Even the high school kids were taught 'bout nonviolence and direct action. Finally, me an' my friends went to march - all 1000 of us.
This movement was called "Project 'C'", the "c" representin' segregation Well, thousands - mostly trained children, but some adults - arrived at the Sixth Street Baptist Church to march to downtown Birmingham to enforce the tactics of nonviolent direct action. Most of these children skipped class! Almost immediately, they began to arrest us. By the end of the first day, 700 of us were arrested! But we weren't discouraged, despite the violence and racist Governor who proclaimed "segregation now, segregation tomorrow, segregation forever".
Nothin’ stopped these fine folks. The brave children arrived the next day to continue marching. These poor kids were violently clubbed by officers, attacked by police dogs, and blasted by high pressure water hoses. On the night of May 3rd Martian Luther King offered encouragement to the parents of the youngsters with a speech... “Don’t worry about your children; they are going to be alright. Don’t hold them back if they want to go to jail, for they are not only doing a job for themselves, but for all of America and for all of mankind.”
The violence was ended on May 10th when the SCLC agreed to desegregate downtown stores and release all protesters from jail. After 5 days, 2500 protesters were arrested, 200 being them brave young children. The Birmingham Board of Education declared that them children who participated in the movement were to be expelled. People found this absolutely ridiculous, which it was! This was then taken to court by none other than the NAACP.
Following the march, protesters continued to fight for what was right with smaller riots. This success in Birmingham provided momentum for the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom and paved the way for passage of the Civil Rights act. I hope you all learned somethin’ new ‘bout the ol city of Brimingham. The events that took place here for sure changed the course of history. Thanks for stoppin’ by!
'Twas a warm day, May 2nd, 1963. We kids had been recruited to protest in the streets. It ain't that the old folks didn't want to protest, they just couldn't lose their jobs, and we children didn't have much to loose. Even the high school kids were taught 'bout nonviolence and direct action. Finally, me an' my friends went to march - all 1000 of us.
This movement was called "Project 'C'", the "c" representin' segregation Well, thousands - mostly trained children, but some adults - arrived at the Sixth Street Baptist Church to march to downtown Birmingham to enforce the tactics of nonviolent direct action. Most of these children skipped class! Almost immediately, they began to arrest us. By the end of the first day, 700 of us were arrested! But we weren't discouraged, despite the violence and racist Governor who proclaimed "segregation now, segregation tomorrow, segregation forever".
Nothin’ stopped these fine folks. The brave children arrived the next day to continue marching. These poor kids were violently clubbed by officers, attacked by police dogs, and blasted by high pressure water hoses. On the night of May 3rd Martian Luther King offered encouragement to the parents of the youngsters with a speech... “Don’t worry about your children; they are going to be alright. Don’t hold them back if they want to go to jail, for they are not only doing a job for themselves, but for all of America and for all of mankind.”
The violence was ended on May 10th when the SCLC agreed to desegregate downtown stores and release all protesters from jail. After 5 days, 2500 protesters were arrested, 200 being them brave young children. The Birmingham Board of Education declared that them children who participated in the movement were to be expelled. People found this absolutely ridiculous, which it was! This was then taken to court by none other than the NAACP.
Following the march, protesters continued to fight for what was right with smaller riots. This success in Birmingham provided momentum for the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom and paved the way for passage of the Civil Rights act. I hope you all learned somethin’ new ‘bout the ol city of Brimingham. The events that took place here for sure changed the course of history. Thanks for stoppin’ by!